A trip to the Holy Land

Kornelius Purba, The Jakarta Post, Jerusalem, Israel

Despite the absence of diplomatic relations between Indonesia and Israel, the government has relaxed restrictions on visiting the Holy Land. It is quite common to read advertisements from various travel agents in Indonesian media promoting pilgrimages to Israel, whether "Celebrate Christmas in Bethlehem" or "Observe Easter in Jerusalem".

The number of Indonesian tourists visiting the Holy Land has also increased in the last decade, although the number visiting Israel in the last four years plunged.

For Christians, Muslims and Jews, Jerusalem is a holy city. For Christians, the whole country along with the Palestinian territory, including Bethlehem and Nazareth, are part of the Holy Land. For Muslims, Jerusalem is the third holiest city after Mecca and Medina, because of the presence of the gold-domed mosque, Dome of the Rock, and al-Aqsa Mosque, located at Temple Mount.

On a tour organized by a travel agency, along with 19 other Indonesian pilgrims, my wife and I traveled to the Holy Land early last month, flying Emirates to Amman, Jordan. A visa is required to visit Jordan.

We came at the right time of the year, as October and November offer cooler autumn temperatures.

From Amman, we continued our journey to Israel by bus. It takes only about two hours to reach the border of Israel and Jordan, the Allenby Bridge. The security check by Israeli immigration officials was not only very tight but also frustrating. My wife, who depends on a wheelchair and has a metal pin in her back after an operation, had to undergo a tiring security examination.

However, there were practically no more security checks during our stay, including when we arrived in hotels or restaurants. It was only when we entered and left the Palestinian occupied territories, like Bethlehem and Jericho, that we had our passports rechecked and saw military guards.

We had to wait about three hours to get the visa on arrival. Because of the absence of diplomatic relations, the visa to enter Israel was not stamped in our passports but on a separate sheet of paper.

Then we had to use another bus for our one-week stay in the Holy Land, because a Jordanian bus was not allowed to enter Israel and vice versa.

The transportation firm belongs to an Arab-Israeli citizen. The driver, Joseph, was a Palestinian Christian. The Indonesian travel agent which organized our trip, without prior notification of us, did not fulfill its promise that a Catholic bishop would accompany us during our trip.

The accompaniment of a priest or clergyman is a must for the pilgrimage, because without religious guidance the visits to the biblical sites could mean not more than visiting other famous places. The bishop was substituted by an American priest who had wide experience in the Holy Land. There was still a big problem because the priest could not use Indonesian, and not all of us could fully understand his explanations or sermons.

Our first destination was Jericho, a very Arabic city located 250 meters below sea level. A quiet city, it has been deserted by tourists since 2000 following the Palestinian uprising.

From Jericho we went to Galilee, a key biblical site, which is only 157 kilometers from Jerusalem. During our three-day visit, we stayed in a hotel located next to the Sea of Galilee. The sea, actually a lake, is only 50 kilometers in boundary. In Galilee, according to the New Testament, Jesus Christ performed several miracles, including his first miracle in Cana where he turned water into wine at the request of his mother.

There is a tradition that married couples during their pilgrimage renew their marriage commitment during a mass at a Roman Catholic church or Greek Orthodox church. The wife can just take the olive branch on her head to make the ceremony more romantic.

Another stop on the tour is Nazareth, the home city of the Holy Family. It is famous for the Basilica of Annunciation and St. Joseph Church.

We also visited the beautiful upper reaches of the Jordan River, which supplies most of the water needed by Israel. In this river, John the Baptist baptized Jesus. It is a must to sail through the sea to recall Jesus' miracles walking on the water and where His disciple Peter caught abundant fish on His order. The St. Peter fish, a common catch here and tasting like mujair fish in Indonesia, was the most exotic menu item during our visit.

Our next trip was to Jerusalem. There was a strong sense of religiosity as we approached this holy city. This was the most important part of our pilgrimage, along with Bethlehem, which is only about 11 kilometers from Jerusalem.

Our hotel was next to one of the old walled Jerusalem gates. We had a ceremony, Following in Jesus' Footsteps, along the noisy Via Dolorosa to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, to recall the crucifixion, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Wheelchairs cannot be used here so we had to walk the stairs to the top. While we were praying, souvenir traders became a big temptation, because many of them can speak broken Indonesian, shouting "murah, murah" (cheap, cheap).

Another destination is the Garden of Gethsemane, where Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus. There is a tree inside the garden which is believed to be the one where Jesus prayed before His arrest. Unfortunately, we could not visit the mosque because it was closed at that time and only reopened by the Jewish government during Ramadhan.

For me, Bethlehem was the most impressive place to visit, because it quickly brings to mind Christmas and the carols. The city was also very quiet, with hotels and souvenir shops empty. Souvenirs from the 2000 jubilee were on sale, leftovers as the number of pilgrims during the visit of John Paul II was much lower than expected due to rising violence between the Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

Before concluding our pilgrimage, we visited the Dead Sea. Located 400 meters below sea level, it is the lowest point on Earth. Travelers can float on the sea because it is six times more salty than the ocean.

This pilgrimage will remain memorable for us because when we read the Gospel, we could easily recall our visit to the Holy Land.